Our Help to the Deceased

Someone close has
died… Sooner or later we all encounter the mysterious phenomenon of death. And
every decent person, by measure of his power and opportunities, tries to give
the deceased his last due, to worthily send him off on the path of the whole
earth. We attend to obtaining a coffin, to organizing the funeral, to planning
the funeral repast. But we sometimes do not realize that the deceased himself
does not need either the coffin nor the meal. Naked a person leaves his
mother’s womb, naked he returns to the womb of the earth. Only one thing he needs,
and needs it extremely. That is prayer. After the body’s death God designates a
place for the soul until the Final Judgment — either heaven or hell, depending
on how he had lived his life. Prayers for the repose of the dead, panihidas and
commemorating at the liturgy greatly help the soul in the other world.

There is tale in the
Lives of the Saints about the Venerable Macarius the Great, who prayed for
everyone who departed for the other world. Once he saw a skull in the desert,
which by the power of God related to Macarius that through his prayers, even
the worst sinners receive some relief from their sufferings.

The first and
immutable responsibility of each believer is the ordering of a funeral service
for his deceased relative. One can display economy anywhere, only not on the
funeral service! It must be performed no sooner than the third day of death
(the day of death is considered the first day, even if the person died just
before midnight); it is better, if the service occurs in church or at the cemetery.
In an extreme case a funeral service can be performed in absentia. The deceased
must be buried in the earth at all cost. Cremation is foreign to Orthodox
ritual, borrowed from the eastern cultures. Even if the deceased willed to have
himself cremated, going against his will is not a sin.

On the 9th and 40th
days after death panihidas must be ordered—prayers for forgiveness of the sins
of the deceased. Particularly important is the 40th day, on which the personal
judgment of God is carried out over the soul, determining its fate until the
Second Coming of Christ. Prayers for the repose will be more effective, if any
one of the relatives of the deceased partakes of the Eucharist on these
commemorative days. Panihidas should be served in the future as well, on
birthdays, the day of death, the saint’s day of the deceased. Writing altar
pleas, putting up candles can be done every day. At the cemetery, one must not
insult the memory of the deceased by becoming drunk or pouring vodka on the
gravesite. It is better to light a candle, to pray, to clean up the grave. At
home, at the commemorative repast, Russians partake of special food — kutia
(rice with honey or raisins), yeast-raised pancakes (blini), kisel (flummery).

If the deceased
during his life was a believer, did not disparage God or the Church, confessed
his deadly sins, long-term memorial services are ordered in the Church — for
forty days (sorokoust), six months or a year. Monasteries accept
"eternal" (while the monastery stands) remembrances.

Can an Orthodox Funeral Service be Performed for
People of Other Faiths?

This question has
been raised many times. Notice, that the question is not whether one can at
least pray for a deceased person of another faith, but can funeral services or
panihidas be served for them. It is vital to differentiate between these two
inquiries: just prayers for deceased persons of other faiths, and the
performance of an Orthodox rite for them. Personal, in-home prayer for
non-Orthodox persons is not forbidden, one can remember them at home, read
psalms at their gravesite, offer alms for the remembrance of their soul… But
the Orthodox funeral rite and panihidas are constructed in the certainty that
the deceased and the one for whom the service is being held is a true member of
the Orthodox Church.

In protecting the
purity of its Orthodox teachings and the order of life established by God, the
Church has always forbidden bishops, clerics and laity to join in prayerful
association not only in the church, but even at home with all heretics,
schismatics, and excommunicants. The strictness with which the Church guarded
its children from the danger of being infected by some heresy even extended to
forbidding hierarchs to pray or serve even in the presence of heretics. The
basis for this canonical rule lies in the eternal word of Christ: "But if
he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a
publican" (Matthew 18:17). Being without the Church in life, heretics and
schismatics are even farther from it in death, because then they lose the
ability to repent and turn to the true light.

So it is perfectly
natural that the Church cannot bring the mollifying bloodless offering or any
prayer at all for non-Orthodox: this last is clearly forbidden according to the
Apostle (1 John 5:16). In keeping with the commandments of the apostles and
holy fathers, the Church prays only for the repose of Orthodox Christians who
died in faith and repentance, as living members of the Body of Christ. This
includes those, who might have fallen away at one time, but repented and
returned to the Church.

Remaining true in all
ways to the ancient Universal Church, our Russian Orthodox Church not only
forbade funeral services for non-Orthodox — Roman Catholics, Protestants,
Armenians, etc., but even to perform panihidas for them. Out of Christian mercy
it only began to permit one condescension in relation to them: if the
non-Orthodox is of "Christian faith," and for their burial there is
no priest or pastor of their faith available, then an Orthodox priest may, in
his vestments, accompany the body of the deceased to the cemetery and, during
singing of "Holy God…" preside at the lowering of the coffin into the
grave. Taking a body of a non-Orthodox person into an Orthodox Church is not
permitted.

The expanse of
Orthodox Christian love, in the name of which some demand to allow church
prayers for deceased Christians of any faith, cannot extend to disregard for
Orthodox teachings of faith, a treasure which our Church has protected in the
course of centuries. Otherwise all boundaries will be erased, which separate
the One True Church from those who are torn from the blessed unity with it.

From everything said
here, it is clear that Church prayers are even more greatly forbidden for
deceased Muslims, Buddhists, Jews and people of faiths, which do not recognize
the Lord Jesus Christ.

CONVERSATION

0
comments:

Post a Comment

About Our Blog

Welcome to the official blog of the Catalogue of St.Elisabeth Convent! The blog includes recent ministry updates of the convent, sermons, icons, personal stories and everything related to Orthodox Christianity. Join our Catalog of Good Deeds and become part of the ministry of St.Elisabeth Convent! #CatalogOfGoodDeeds